The enormity of this MSU game.

Submitted by Wolverine90 on

The enormity of this game against MSU cannot be questioned.  At stake:

1.       Getting a win streak started vs MSU or losing a 3rd time in a row, bringing back old records books of futility dating back to the 60’s.

2.       RR finally breaking into the bowl column for UM.

3.       Guaranteed upward trajectory for the program with 6 wins vs 5 last year vs 3 two years ago.

4.       A first win against a Big 10 arch rival for RR.

5.       Huge ramifications re in-state recruiting.  A loss and Sparty can legitimately start claiming football superiority, justifying the Thomases and Gholstons of the world.  I.e., the death of "Little Brother."

6.       The misery of a year's worth of Sparty trash talking that will ensue.

7.       GRob evidencing the ability to devise a real defensive game plan other than “let’s hide our weaknesses in the secondary by giving up 600 yards a game to elite football powers like UMass and Indiana” and evidencing the ability to save his job and save our program further post season tumult.

8.       A loss means the echoes of last year, and RR’s job security given his futility vs the Big 10, resurfacing.  A win, and that is all but put to bed, especially with weak PSU, Illinois and Purdue games looming.

9.       A win means legit 8-4 or 9-3 talk.  A loss means legit 6-6 or 7-5 talk.

Just too much at stake.  I may have to DVR this game and watch it after I know the outcome or I may have a coronary.  Alas the frivolous things we invest our pride in…

BraveWolverine730

October 6th, 2010 at 1:54 PM ^

Not to be rude, but some of this stuff is dumb.  If State is actually as good as they looked against Wisconsin,  they could be a top 3 Big Ten team and we could conceivably lost to them as part of a 8-4 campaign.  Also I would like to see you put together an effective game plan with the defensive talent we have. Blitz a lot? Okay let's see a repeat of the James Rogers being burned by the IU receiver all game.  

 

This is obviously a huge game. However, if we lose the game it won't be the end of the world as long as we remain fairly healthy. 

Hoke_Floats

October 6th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

a loss would mean 5-1

unless sparty somehow blows us out so bad as to cause us to lose mulitple games

but I am still positive that won't happen despite what I have read about our D

joeyb

October 6th, 2010 at 2:12 PM ^

I believe the whole thing started when TRob was already on the team and GRob came in. Then, DRob got recruited shortly after that. This year, we have JRob and MRob. Anyway, the point is that the whole *Rob thing started with TRob and GRob because of the obvious need to distinguish between all of the Robinsons.

UM Indy

October 6th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^

I read somewhere this is only the second time in 40 some years both teams enter the game undefeated.  My friends and I pick one game a year for a reunion.  We picked Iowa this year but I'm kinda regretting not picking Moo U.

SpartanNation

October 6th, 2010 at 2:12 PM ^

And when it's over, and MSU has won 219 to -13, COACH Dantonio is going to whip out his giant dong and bang every single one of you GAYVERINES to death.  SMELL IT.

SPARTAN NATION 

Keeeeurt

October 6th, 2010 at 2:12 PM ^

I agree that this game is huge but I still think we can pull off an 8-4 record with wins of Illinois, Purdue, and Penn State.  I think PSU is very weak this year and we have a chance to win at PSU.

bleednblue

October 6th, 2010 at 2:15 PM ^

it is a big game.  But lets give it some context here.  "A loss and Sparty can legitimately start claiming football superiority,".  The record stands at 67–30–5 in Michigans favor.  Even if M does lose, it's a strech for Sparty to claim "football superioriy" with an overall record of 31-67-5.

willywill9

October 6th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^

The way things have gone the last two seasons, EVERY game is big.  Plain and simple.  And I don't think losing to MSU hurts recruiting.  You can't erase history in 3 years.

blueheron

October 6th, 2010 at 2:21 PM ^

"A loss and Sparty can legitimately start claiming football superiority, justifying the Thomases and Gholstons of the world.  I.e., the death of Little Brother."

No ... ridiculously arbitrary.

"GRob evidencing the ability to devise a real defensive game plan other than 'let’s hide our weaknesses in the secondary by giving up 600 yards a game to elite football powers like UMass and Indiana' and evidencing the ability to save his job and save our program further post season tumult."

Silly.  I won't bother rehashing fifty other posts.

"A win means legit 8-4 or 9-3 talk.  A loss means legit 6-6 or at best 7-5 talk."

Stupid -- it's just one game.

---

Sure, it's an important game in the season, but don't blow it out of proportion.

jb5O4

October 6th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^

If we go 6-0 Saturday why would we be talking about finishing 0-6 or 1-5? Regardless of the score Saturday, come Monday all we will be talking about is the Iowa game.

ahs22

October 6th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^

The scariest part is MSU potentially having double digit wins if we dont take em out now and start the infamous standard sparty second half spiral 

htownwolverine

October 6th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^

has been cancelled by the negative production level I have achieved at work this week on actual work related items. 

Also, why did my cousin have to schedule his kids birthday on Saturday at 2:00? Should I send my wife and three sons on their own? It's my side of the family.

Anyways, I think Stonum busts one and we get two picks for a 42-28 win.

Yard Dog

October 6th, 2010 at 2:50 PM ^

Sure, who doesn't like beating UMass?  But RR needs to start competing with teams that are actually decent.  A win over MSU starts our move back to respectability.  I don't think any victory so far this season has done that.

NateVolk

October 6th, 2010 at 2:52 PM ^

I started out thinking it was huge must win all offseason. I was also exposed to a lot more  MSM too. Now I don't think so.

It would be great to win and would help things a long, but long term it probably doesn't matter either way.

Not that those aren't legitimate benefits on the thread start.

Gino

October 6th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^

Enough already.....   its the OSU game is what matters.

You fellas are playing right into the hands of Sparty who is trying to make himself relevant.

Wolverine90

October 6th, 2010 at 4:34 PM ^

It's fun to write off Sparty and I know it's the UM mantra, but c'mon man.  Sparty is relevant.  Otherwise Thomas and Gholston might very well be Wolverines.  Deanthony Arnett might be a stronger possibility for us, etc.  This is a touchy time for our program.  We are vulnerable not only on the field, but by how we are perceived a s a program especially by young kids who aren't old enough to remember when Woodson made that pick against Sparty.  Erring on the side of reality like I am may not be popular for Wolverine nation, but it's the paranoid introverts who rule the world.

StephenRKass

October 6th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^

 

The enormity of this game CAN and WILL be questioned. Ohio State is bigger, Always has been, Always will be. Let me refute your points one by one.

  1. Will partially agree with you. But, I am more concerned about the loss streak against OSU than against MSU. Two losses isn't much of a "streak" either. If I am fighting a lion (OSU), I will focus on the lion, and not the dog nipping at my heels. The dog (MSU) I can dispatch at any time.
  2. RR & UofM will be in a bowl this year, regardless of win or loss to MSU. Doesn't matter to me whether we know it this week or later this month.
  3. RR & UofM will be in an upward win trajectory this year, regardless of win or loss to MSU. Doesn't matter to me whether we know it this week or later this month.
  4. MSU is not an arch rival, they are a little brother.
  5. Michigan recruits aren't idiots. And if the outcome of this game sways them, they are idiots, therefore, not Michigan recruits, QED. Seriously, any intelligent recruit should be able to see the trajectory Michigan is heading in. Shoot, they should count their lucky stars that Michigan considers them worthy of an offer.
  6. Deal with the misery of trash talking. Michigan grads are above that anyway. People who talk trash usually are trash.
  7. For crying out loud, Gerg isn't a magician. We have Herron back, and Gerg is doing the best he can with the lousy hand he has been dealt. He gets a minimum two more years.
  8. RR has total job security at this point. A loss to MSU doesn't mean a thing to DB and MS Coleman, and they are the only ones who count. The yappers in the media and the fanbase will be yappers, and they just need to be tuned out. We will end up with 8 or 9 wins, regardless of what happens this Saturday.
  9. Win or lose to MSU, we are still going to be at 8 to 9 wins, and thus legit by your reasoning.

The importance of Michigan State is distorted in the State of Michigan. Outside the state, it matters less. I would argue this game is much more important to MSU than to UM. I believe we will end up with four more wins this year, but I am unsure who we will lose to. A 9 - 3 season is more than successful enough for us, regardless of whether or not we beat State. Beating OSU, now that gets national attention, ends the streak of losses, and would be memorable. Ask yourself:  what win are you aware of from 1969? MSU or OSU? Where did Bo focus? OSU or MSU? What ends the season? OSU or MSU? Admittedly, those living in Michigan can't stand grief from Sparty, but it just isn't as big.

We beat State, and media will go "meh." We lose, they go "meh." We beat OSU, they take notice, and so does everyone else. It was the OSU game that sealed the Heisman for Howard and Woodson. If we beat OSU, and Denard has a killer game, it paves the way for a Heisman for him too.

To use coach speak, every "next game" is critical. But I would strongly prefer to take the balance of the season as critical, and not freight this one game with so much importance.

Now, having said that I don't view a win vs. MSU as critical, I will say this:  I strongly believe Michigan is going to pants State. The hounds are being unleashed. No, the wolverines are being unleashed. The big guns are being loaded. State will not know what hit them. They will cry, they will be dazed, they will be shell - shocked, And in less than 75 hours, the rest of the Big 10, nay, the rest of the country, will know that even with a substandard defense, Michigan is back, back to stay and an unstoppable force beyond their reckoning.

Wolverine90

October 6th, 2010 at 4:57 PM ^

I agree OSU will always be a bigger game, and I didn't question that.  However, let's visit context.  Due to the current fragility of our coach's job security - something we have not born witness to in 40 years - I do believe Sparty is more relevant to UM now than they have been in 40 years.  RR needs to continue to build his positive trajectory as a part of this rebuilding plan, and to that end he stands to lose more from losing to Sparty this year than from losing to a loaded #2 OSU.  Florida loses to #1 Alabama and look, Florida is still a top 10 team, and no one questions Urban Meyer for losing to the #1 team.  Same thing if we lose to OSU this year.  It will do little to negatively impact RR's perception - it is an expected loss with the pieces we have on defense.  But losing to uh, Sparty?  A third time in a row?  Definitely not expected at this point, and thus more damaging to RR's rebuilding plan, to local recruiting, and to all UM fan ears for the next year at the hands of loudmouth MSU football fans.  Said again,  a win over OSU will be HUGE for RR, but a loss will be a wash.  A win over MSU will be big, not as big as OSU, but a loss will definitely not be a wash, it will be damaging on many levels - tone for rest of season, GRob's job security, in-state recruiting, etc. etc.

mrlmichael

October 6th, 2010 at 4:06 PM ^

This question is directly related to this thread, but is related kind of, just didn't think it warranted a thread of its own.



Does anyone know the Bo quote about Michigan State. Something about returning things to the way they are supposed to be. If you do know it do you have a link to where I can find it? I have looked all over.

VAWolverine

October 6th, 2010 at 6:25 PM ^

freakin years old.  We've had big games before and we'll have big games in the future (Iowa next week?). Let's just show up if we have a ticket, watch TV and root if we don't and hope for the best. If we play well Saturday we will win. If we lose we will be disappointed. Whatever happens we need to give thanks that we are able to enjoy all of this and move on.

That is all I know.

Go Blue.